Socialization Part I

Do Now: How have your parents/guardians made you who you are today Do Now: How have your parents/guardians made you who you are today? Give examples of your baby/childhood experiences with parents/guardians that have shaped you into the person you are. Discuss with a partner.

Socialization is… Socialization: the cultural process of learning to participate in group life. Begins at birth and continues throughout life

Harry Harlow’s Monkey Experiment Psychologist, Harry Harlow, devised a famous experiment that showed the negative effects of social isolation on rhesus monkeys. In one experiment, infant monkeys, separated from their mothers at birth, were exposed to 2 artificial mothers—wire dummies of the same appropriate size and shape as real adult monkeys. One of the substitute monkeys had an exposed wire body. The other was covered with soft terry cloth. Free to choose b/t them, the infant monkeys consistently spent more time with the soft, warm mother. … apparently, the closeness and comfort were more important to these monkeys than food… when frightened, the infant monkeys consistently ran to their terry cloth mothers for security and protection

Harry Harlow’s Monkey Experiment Harlow’s experiments showed that infant monkeys need intimacy, warmth, physical contact, and comfort. Infant monkeys raised in isolation became distressed, apathetic, withdrawn, hostile adult animals. They never exhibited normal sexual patterns. As mothers, they either rejected or ignored their babies, and sometimes even physically abused them. Many experts on human development believe that for human infants (like Harlow’s monkeys) emotional needs for affection, intimacy, and warmth are as important as physiological needs for food, water, and protection. Human babies denied close contact usually have difficulty forming emotional ties with others.

Functionalism: Socialization Functionalism stresses the way in which groups work together to create a stable society. Schools and families socialize children by teaching them the same basic norms, beliefs, and values the teachers and parents were once taught.

Conflict Theory: Socialization The conflict perspective views socialization as a way of perpetuating the status quo. When people are socialized to accept their family’s social class, they help preserve the current class system.

Conflict Theory: Socialization People learn to accept their social status before they have enough self-awareness to realize what is happening. Many people do not challenge their position in life, thus they do not upset the existing class structure. Consequently, socialization maintains the social, political, and economic advantages of the higher social classes.

Monday, November 21st, 2017 EQ- What are the key concepts of socialization from a symbolic interactionist perspective? Journal Log- Answer the following inside your journal log: “Why do our parents let us watch tv if most parents agree that they don’t like the effects of tv on children?” Then Discuss with person beside you. Agenda: 1) Journal Log 2) Notes & Video 3) Looking-Glass Assignment 4) Goal Sheet Time

Symbolic Interaction: Socialization Symbolic interaction uses a number of key concepts to explain socialization. I. The Self Concept II. The Looking Glass Self III. Significant Others IV. The Generalized Other V. Role Taking

SI: The Self Concept The self-concept: an image of yourself as having an identity separate from other people

SI: The Looking Glass Self The looking-glass self: an image of yourself based on what you believe others think of you What are the steps in this process? 1. Imagine how we want to appear to other. 2. Looking at how other react to our actions. 3. We react to our assumptions of how people judge/perceives us. The looking-glass self can be distorted! It comes from our imagination, the mirror may not accurately reflect others’ opinions of us

The Looking Glass Self in Action Teenagers are often strongly influenced by their peers and will go beyond conforming to changing their self-image to match. Using it If you want someone to believe something about themselves, act towards them as if it were true.

SI: Significant Others Significant others: those people whose reactions are most important to your self-concept For a child significant others include parents, grandparents, teachers, and playmates. For teenagers, significant others mainly include their friends/peers. For adults, significant others range from spouses, parents, and friends, to ministers and employers.

Think-Pair-Share “ No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” How is this statement an example of the looking-glass self

Think-Pair-Share Describe an experience you have had with the looking-glass process. How did this experience touch or change your self concept?

SI: Role Taking Role taking allows us to see ourselves through the eyes of someone else It allows us to take the viewpoint of another person and then respond to ourselves from that imagined viewpoint. With role taking, we can play out scenes in our minds and anticipate what others will say or do.

Role Taking: Stage I Imitation stage: This is Mead’s first stage in the development of role taking; (begins around 1 ½ - 2 years old) at this stage, the child imitates (without understanding) the physical and verbal behavior of a significant other.

Role Taking: Stage II Play Stage: Mead’s 2nd stage in the development of role taking; at the age of 3 to 4, a young child can be seen playing at being a parent, police officer, teacher, or astronaut. This play involves acting and thinking as a child IMAGINES another person would; the stage during which children take on roles of others one at a time

Role Taking: Stage III Game Stage: Mead’s 3rd stage in the development of role taking; Here children learn to engage in more sophisticated role taking as they become able to consider the roles of several people simultaneously Children anticipate the actions of others based on social rules

SI: The Generalized Other The generalized other: An integrated conception of the norms, values, and beliefs of one’s community or society

Me v. I According to Mead, the first reaction of the self comes from the “I.” “Me”: the part of the self created through socialization; the “me” accounts for predictability and conformity “I”: the part of the self that accounts for unlearned, spontaneous acts

Me v. I “I” is myself as I am… “ME” is my self as others see me & the me portrayed for others Genie didn’t have a concept of “me” because she was not socialized to perceive how others saw her, she only had a concept of “I” – she was an egocentric baby with no concept of anything but her own needs

Activity    Assignment Write a 5-8 verse poem or a 500 word reflective essay regarding the looking-glass self. How similar are “I” and “Me?” Why do you present “Me” the way you do? How do you think others see you? Does your “I” affect your “Me” more than your “Me” affects your “I?” Who is you?

Agents of Socialization I. The Family II. School III. Peer Groups IV. Mass Media

Agents of Socialization: The Family The child’s 1st exposure to the world occurs within the family. Within the family, the child learns to: Think and speak Internalize norms, beliefs, and values Form some basic attitudes Develop a capacity for intimate and personal relationships Acquire a self-image

Agents of Socialization: School In school, children are under the care and supervision of adults who are not relatives. For the first time, many of the child’s relationships with other people are impersonal. Rewards and punishments are based on performance rather than affection. The school creates feelings of loyalty and allegiance to something beyond school.

Agents of Socialization: School Socialization in schools involves more than just reading, writing, and math… Underlying the formal goals of school is the hidden curriculum- the informal and unofficial aspects of culture that children are taught in preparation for life. The hidden curriculum teaches children discipline, order, cooperation, and conformity- characteristics required for success in the adult world of work

Agents of Socialization: Peer Groups Composed of individuals of roughly the same age and interests This is the ONLY socialization that is not controlled primarily by adults

Agents of Socialization: Mass Media Mass media are the means of communication designed to reach the general population (including: tv, radio, newspapers, magazines, movies, books, the Internet, etc.) The mass media display role models for children to imitate. They also offer children ideas about the values in their society. They provide children with images of achievement and success, activity and work, equality and democracy.